Rural Analysis and Management

Francisco J. Tapiador

Rural Analysis
and Management
An Earth Science Approach to Rural Science

With 166 Figures and 24 Tables

Author
Francisco J. Tapiador
Institute of Environmental Sciences, ICAM
Avda. Carlos III s/n, 45004
Toledo
Spain
Francisco.Tapiador@uclm.es

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007932916

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This book is dedicated to Raquel
Foreword

This handbook possesses two virtues that are becoming increasingly difficult to find
together. The first one is providing a novel and original scheme to analyze the rural
areas of the planet in the context of Earth sciences. The handbook is so original in
its plan that it actually defines what modern rural science is. The scheme followed,
albeit new, is rooted in a venerable geographical tradition and presents a sensible
balance between the academic and the applied viewpoints. This novel way of study-
ing rural areas represents by itself a valuable contribution to this complex field.
The second virtue of the book is the ability of synthesizing the most important
aspects of the issues tackled, and there are many issues this book tackles, from
physical to human geography and from deontology to matrix algebra. When writing
a handbook in such a vast field as rural science, it is indeed tempting to accumulate
meaningless information assisted by the wealth of available on-line information. On
the other side, the danger of forgetting essential aspects is always present. None of
these problems seems to have affected the making of this book. The pictures and
tables always have a place, the text never looses its coherence, and no comment
seems superfluous. Also, the ambitious scope of the book is seemly effortlessly
solved by a rational, clear, and logical scheme that dissects all the relevant issues
up to the required point. The result is a logical and uniform handbook in what was
previously a daunting attempt, given the breadth of the topic.
Another aspect that favourably adds to the interest of this book is the careful
choice of literature the author has done. The final contents embody what could be
considered as rural science and nothing else. This is a coherent and thoughtfully
thought out text on rural science, which is also a handbook on rural analysis and
management.
This book will be of use to both higher education instructors and students. It is
indeed difficult to find a handbook that can be read either as a continuous text or
in a random way, but even rarer to have an academic book that so easily conveys
a discipline: students of environmental sciences, geography, and rural or agrarian
engineering studies will find how effortlessly this book helps to understand and
remember essential topics. This is partly thanks to the way the text is presented.
Confining most of the large number of works consulted to the end of each chap-
ter is a clever and increasingly rare way of acknowledging the sources without
distracting the reader. This absence of references in the main text contributes to
a limpid reading, benefiting the educational side of the book.

vii
viii Foreword

This is not only a book for students, however. For the researcher and the practi-
tioner, this handbook is an invaluable guide to carry out rural planning studies in an
ordered and scientifically based manner. Just by considering all the topics presented
in the first part of the book, valuable analysis will surely follow. And by taking into
account the regional specificities (part II), and the management issues (part III), a
proper rural planning and management can be carried out encompassing much of
the current knowledge on this undoubtedly difficult but worthy task.

Jordi Martí-Henneberg

Professor in Human Geography

University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
January 2007
Prologue

Earth is a rural landscape. In spite of cities, both the rural and the natural areas of the
world cover most of the planet. Today, the rural areas of the planet nourish us and
provide us with most of the energy we use. Until the nineteenth century, the history
of humanity was a rural history. Nonetheless, rural analysis is not a science of the
past but a living discipline with a profound effect on our daily lives. How forests
are managed, or how mass tourism is handled has implications for urbanites too.
The agricultural policies are intertwined with national taxation systems, and even
the geopolitics of large geographical areas is related to irrigation and rural interests.
Global change has profound effects in rural areas, and even those apparently natural
areas are so anthropized that they need to be analyzed in the framework of rural
science.
Modern rural analysis is a multi-disciplinary geoscience which has its origins
in geographical analysis studies. Today, it comprises many different areas and sev-
eral different and often disparate expertises, both in social and in natural sciences.
Whereas there are excellent journals and societies devoted to rural research, I felt
that there was a gap in the literature between the academic point of view and how
theoretical methods and studies are applied in a real practical work. This was one
reason to start writing this handbook.
Another motivation to embark on this two year endeavour was my geographical
passion. There are a few sciences that provide such a variety of scales, methods
and rewards as geography does. The geographer can develop methods of rainfall
estimation from space; analyze the making of the American railroads; or the mor-
phology of the cities. He is concerned with both biodiversity and social deprivation
and his analysis can directly help to make a better world for everyone. Instead of
focusing on a particular aspect of the planet, the geographer starts acquiring a deep
understanding on many particular subjects to eventually build a territorial synthesis,
a complex task that can only be achieved using an objective methodology. The more
we learn about the intricate interactions between humankind and nature, and of these
elements by themselves, the more we will be able to control and manage our envi-
ronment for our benefit. In this aspect, I believe that the geosciences contribution to
rural analyses and how rural areas are analysed and managed is crucial. Geography
is just one of the sciences involved in rural analysis, but its own perspective and
methods are central in rural studies.
The first part of the book presents a comprehensive description of the elements
of rural analysis, providing the basis for a synthetic view of rural landscapes that

ix
x Prologue

are explored in the second part. In the third part of the handbook, management
issues arising in rural development projects are discussed. This part covers topics
such as global change, the role of information technologies in rural areas, gender
relations and how to bridge the gap between scientific analysis and decision-making
processes. The final part of the book comprises of a few real examples to illustrate
how all the analyses and techniques shown in the previous parts can be applied in
commissioned rural project.
This book is a handbook and as such there is little room for originality, apart
from the selection of topics and the links between them. Therefore, most of the
material found here is an elaboration of the established academic literature, which
is acknowledged at the end of each chapter. Nonetheless, I have widely used my
personal experience in carrying out geographical analyses, both in academia and
as a consultant, and I have organized existing material in a consistent, and I think
novel way, by linking specific topics to the actual rural analysis work done in the
field. Thus, many of the tables and figures are updates of my own work on several
topics.
A couple of additional notes may help to contextualize the book. I have con-
sciously shied away from any controversy on terminology (such as how ‘counter-
urbanization’ or ‘rural’ can be defined), since they are not appropriated for a hand-
book and may cause more confusion than the information they convey. I have also
reduced to a minimum the citations in the running text in order to avoid interrupting
the reader. Only when I quote, or when either the opinion of the experts differs from
mine or a special credit is due, have I added the corresponding specific citation.
Finally, an epistemological note: it is clear that no piece of scientific work can
hide from its social and intellectual constraints. I would like to explicitly state the
ones in which I think this book is inserted. The style, aim and contents of this hand-
book are consciously rooted in the democratic and open European society tradition.
A rational view on society and the prevalence of logic and reason over other forms
of understanding life and reality are also present. Also, a broad but clear positivistic
approach to science intertwines the treatment of the topics: I do believe that if some-
thing cannot be thought of but has to be apprehended, or it is deemed as ineffable or
as subjective, that is not suitable for scientific scrutiny. It is within those parameters
that this book was developed.
Acknowledgments

Many people and institutions have to be acknowledged both in the motivation and
in the making of this book. I will always be in debt to Professor José-Luis Casanova
for making my academic career possible in the beginning, and continuing to help
me since. My friend and colleague Professor Jordi Martí-Henneberg also needs to
be thanked for his help in every aspect of my career, and in being an academic role
model with his seny. The research generating this book was also greatly influenced
by Professor Horacio Capel: it was a privilege to be able to discuss science with
such a prominent figure in the international academy. The time spent in Barcelona
University deeply contributed to consolidating many of my views on science and
society.
I am also in debt with Dr. Chris Kidd. The three years I spent as research fellow
at Birmingham University contributed to the formulation of the first ideas of this
handbook. This book would have never been possible without the campus’s main
library. Also, the library and the librarians of Imperial College at London have
to be acknowledged: the two years I spent doing the research for this book at the
Kensington Campus were amongst the most productive of my career thanks to their
competent and silent work.
My closest colleagues at the Earth Sciences group in the University of Castilla-
La Mancha (UCLM), Professor Manuel Castro, Dr. Miguel Angel Gaertner, Dr.
Clemente Gallardo, and Dr. Enrique Sánchez deserve my gratitude for making my
life easier and happier in our daily routine. The same applies to Dr. Josu Mezo.
I am also grateful for the efforts of my research team: Ana Mateos, Eva Salgado,
Kerstin Burckhart and Alex Simón Colina. Thanks are also due to Kelsey Boast who
proofread and carefully revised the final manuscript.
A final special thanks is due to Professor Richard Smith and to the Department
of Geography at Cambridge University for being so kind and inviting me to join the
department whilst preparing the final layout of this book. It was an enormous privi-
lege to interact with Professor Sir Tony Wrigley and Dr. Roger Schofield, amongst
many others.

Francisco J. Tapiador

Cambridge, England (winter of 2006)

xi
Contents

Introduction. The Rural Areas of the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1 Methodological Notes on Analysis, Synthesis and Management . . . . . . . 5

1.1 The Analysis Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2 Ethics and Deontology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3 Work Breakdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2 The Measuring Process in Rural Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.1 Variables and Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2 Basic Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Part I Elements of the Analysis

3 Environmental Elements in Rural Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3.1 Geology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.1.1 Mineral Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.2 Soils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.2.1 Soil Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.2.2 Physical Properties of the Soils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.2.3 Chemical Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.2.4 Soil Characterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.2.5 Soil Taxonomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.2.6 The Practical Significance of Soils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.2.7 The Geographical Distribution of Soils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.3 Geomorphology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.4 Meteorology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.5 Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.5.1 Köppen’s Climatic Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.5.2 Thornthwaite’s Climatic System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.6 Hydrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

xiii
xiv Contents

3.7 Land Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

3.8 Ecology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.9 Natural Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.9.1 Energy Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.9.2 Water Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.10 Scenic Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.10.1 Natural Parks and Estates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.10.2 Geosites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.11 Natural and Environmental Risks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

4 Dynamics and Processes of the Environmental Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

4.1 A First Approach to Complex Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

5 Anthropic Elements in Rural Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

5.1 Spatial Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.1.1 The Rural Habitat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5.1.2 Agrarian Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.1.3 Leisure Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
5.1.4 Utilities and Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
5.1.5 Transport and Accessibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.1.6 Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
5.1.7 Industrial and Other Economic Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
5.2 Non-spatial Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
5.2.1 Social Structure: Demography, Occupations, Education
and Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
5.2.2 Gender Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
5.2.3 Public Health Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
5.2.4 Political Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
5.2.5 Rural Culture, Traditions and Folklore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
5.2.6 External Fluxes. Rural Tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
5.3 Technological Factors of the Agrarian Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
5.3.1 Agrarian Exploitation and Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
5.3.2 Biotechnology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
5.3.3 Irrigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
5.3.4 Fertilizers and Chemical Pollution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
5.3.5 Non-tillage Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
5.3.6 Remote Sensing Management: Precision Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . 116
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

6 Dynamics and Processes of the Anthropic Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

6.1 The Rural History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
6.2 Rural Economies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Contents xv

7 A Synthetic Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

7.1 The Rural Landscapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
7.2 Landscape Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
7.3 The Geographical Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
7.3.1 First Order Cross-relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
7.3.2 n-degree Cross-relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
7.3.3 Numerical Modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
7.3.4 Scenario Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
7.4 The Synthesis Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

8 A Cartographic Overview of the Agrarian World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

9 Regional Issues in the Rural Areas of the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

9.1 North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
9.2 The European Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
9.3 The Post-socialist Rural Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
9.4 Central/South America and the Caribbean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
9.5 South-East Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
9.6 China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
9.7 India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
9.8 Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
9.9 Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
9.10 Australia and Oceania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
9.11 The Middle East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Part II Rural Management – The Applied Approach

10 Approaches to Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

10.1 From Problem Solving to Resource Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
10.2 A SWOT Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
10.3 Management Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

11 Management Tools: Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and

Expert Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
11.1 Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
11.2 GIS = CAD+DB+Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
11.3 Expert Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
11.4 Management Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

12 The Concept of Rural Quality of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

12.1 Quality of Life Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
12.2 The Urban Concept of the Rural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
xvi Contents

12.3 Rural Areas for Rural People? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
13 The Rural Areas in the Structure of the Territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
13.1 Towards an Integrated Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
13.2 Rural Management in Regional Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
13.3 Counter-urbanization Processes in Developed Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
14 Rural Planning and Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
14.1 Planning with Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
14.2 Scenario Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
14.3 The Strategy of Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
15 Involving People in the Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
15.1 Management Actors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
15.2 Tools for Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
16 The Decision Guidelines Making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
16.1 The Gap Between Scientific Analysis and Decision-making . . . . . . . . . . . 277
16.2 Decision-making Procedures and Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
16.3 Rural Planning, Regional Planning and Impact Assessments . . . . . . . . . . . 278
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
17 Public Participation and Information Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
17.1 Effective Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
18 Global Change Issues in Rural Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
18.1 The Precautionary Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
18.2 From Assessment to Mitigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
19 Public Dissemination Tools: An Example for Inventories . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
References and Bibliography Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
20 A Rural Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
20.1 An Example in a Formerly Depressed Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Additional Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Templates for a Rural Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Color Plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Introduction. The Rural Areas of the World

The importance of the rural areas for humankind is apparent. Rural areas have hosted
the main part of the human population until the twentieth century, and today they
generate the bulk of the food, energy and materials required by the whole society.
At the end, they represent the product of a continuing struggle between humankind
and nature, illustrating how humans have prevailed over a harsh environment.
Rural areas are one of the most notorious early fingerprints of humankind in
nature. They represent the best (and the worst) that humans do to strive and progress,
and thus represent a way to better know our selves. Landscapes such as Somerset
in England, and most of the Dutch landscape, are the result of human contribution
to the beauty of the planet. Making habitable the inhospitable can be regarded as a
conquest of human ingenuity, and rural landscapes worldwide show how successful
societies have been in doing so. But rural landscapes are also the product of the
environment, and much knowledge can be extracted about the fabric of reality by
studying this part of nature. The subtle links between climate and rural land use have
only recently been fully demonstrated by modelling, to name just one example.
What is a rural area? If we follow the definition of the European Commission a
rural area is ‘a spatial phenomenon that extends across regions, landscapes, nat-
ural areas, agricultural land, villages and other larger urban centres, pockets of
industrialisation and regional centres. It encompasses a diverse and complex eco-
nomic and social fabric. It is the home of a great wealth of natural and cultural
resources and traditions. It is becoming more important as a place for relaxation
and leisure activities’. Also, in order to help to classify areas into rural land, the
European Commission provided a set of spatial features in terms of landscapes:
rural areas close to highly urbanised areas are those characterised by a residential,
recreational and industrial overspill; a growth in population, intensive agriculture
and growth in traffic flows; rural areas used for tourism are characterised by being
predominantly coastal and mountain areas, often equipped for mass tourism, with
a reduction of agricultural activity, development of agglomerations and fragmen-
tation of habitats; rural areas where access is difficult could be characterised as
being areas of mountains, islands, forests, with a high out-migration and inward
migration of retirees/second home owners; and the classical rural areas are those
predominantly agricultural, characterised by agriculture that is highly productive or
efficient, traditional or weak, with low productivity. Within this categorization, most

1
2 Introduction. The Rural Areas of the World

rural areas host diverse activities, characterised by a high dependency on agriculture,

and by the development of complimentary activities.
A more precise definition can be provided using quantitative measurements. Pop-
ulation density is an objective value that can be used to decide if an area is rural or
not. The final result depends on the threshold used, which can vary depending on
the country. For instance, the OECD define rural areas as those with less than 150
inhabitants/sq. km while EUROSTAT use a value of 100 inhabitants/sq. km. But the
population density by itself is just the first step to define rurality. A finer calculation
can be used to provide not two but three classes. An area is said to be predominantly
rural if more than half of the population lives in rural communities (being those
with less than 10,000 inhabitants); significantly rural if between 15%–50% of the
population lives in rural communities; and predominantly urban if less than 15% of
the population lives in rural communities. This working definition has its problems
but can be used as a guide to decide what is rural and what is not.
The previous notes provide an idea of the processes involved in rural analysis
and the resulting landscapes, and shows the difficulty in defining such an apparently
obvious subject. In the rest of this book, we will deal with this diversity. The aim is
to provide a methodology to dissect the different components in which rural areas
can be analyzed, providing a guide to further study. Given the broad nature of the
field, it is impossible to delve into every element at a professional level; a complete
discussion on rural climatology or ecology would be a handbook in itself. Moreover,
it is unnecessary to perform such a deep analysis since this book is aimed to those
coordinating or planning rural analyses, or performing rural management tasks at a
higher stage than the technical level. It is for these professionals (and those studying
to become professionals) for whom this handbook has been written. Even if they
are masters in one particular area, for instance graduated geologists or sociologists,
they will find it useful to know what to expect from other professionals’ reports,
or what should be asked for when commissioning a study in a particularly relevant
aspect of a rural area. Also, they will find how its particular expertise makes links
with the rest of the disciplines involved in rural earth science, in both the analysis
and the management components.

References and Bibliography Used

Canadian Rural Information Service. The OECD definition of ‘rural’ (2000)

European Commission. The Future of Rural Society. European Commission (1988)
European Commission. Europe 2000: Co-operation for European Territorial Development (1994)
European Commission. Rural Development Regulation (No. 1257/99) European Commission
(1999)
European Commission. New Rural Development Regulation (No. 490/2004). European
Commission (2004)
European Commission. Third Cohesion Report - A new Partnership for Cohesion, Convergence
(2004)
European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture. CAP Reform: Rural Development
(2000)
References and Bibliography Used 3

European Rural Exchange. Integrated Rural Development, Policy and Practice, A discussion paper
by the European Rural Exchange. European Rural Exchange (2002)
NESC. New Approaches to Rural Development (1994)
NIAO. Report on the Rural Development Programme 1994-99 (2000)
NISRA Final Report of the Inter-Departmental Urban-Rural Definition Group: Classification and
Delineation of Settlements (2004)